Project LOKI ③

INTERLUDE: Mr. Vice President

A/N: Happy 3rd Anniversary, QED Club! As my treat for this celebration, here's the second special chapter featuring Luthor. Enjoy reading!

—M—

"PASULONG... KAD!"

LUTHOR STOOD near the edge of their school building's rooftop. He was like a king overseeing how vast his kingdom was. He may have been elected as the "vice president," but everyone in the inner circle knows that he's the real one calling the shots in the student council.

Him being out there at five in the afternoon was highly unusual. He should have been in the student council office, sipping his favorite brand of hot chamomile tea, while the other officers were scrambling to finalize the details of their Friday event.

Earlier at lunch time, he received a text message from a familiar number, asking for a private audience. During the council meeting at four-thirty, he asked leave from the president and sneaked out of the room.

"At saan ka pupunta, Mr. VP?" Margarette Fernandez, the chairwoman of the student executive committee, was waiting at the corridor. Her thin arms were crossed over her chest.

"I have an urgent meeting with someone," Luthor answered, shutting the door of his office. "I heard that my brother and his friends accepted the offer to join the execom. How is he doing?"

"Friends?" Maggie scoffed at the word. "Hayun, pinaggupit ko sila ng mga confetti para sa event natin. Saktong-sakto ang pagsali nila sa execom. Kami na sana ni Rye ang manggugupit. Thanks to them, we no longer have that burden.

"Isn't that too much?" Luthor wondered. He knew they would be needing a lot of confetti for the program. A lot! Cutting crepe papers into tiny pieces of paper may take some time and energy, especially for the new recruits.

"'Di ba't ikaw ang nagsabi na dapat magtipid tayo sa student activity funds at i-recycle kung ano ang pwedeng i-recycle?" Maggie said. "I'm merely following your order, Mr. VP. O baka ayaw mong nahihirapan ang kapatid mo?"

When it comes to the budget, Luthor preferred to take a conservative approach on spending it. He does not want the council to spend too much on unnecessary extravagance. He'd rather allot the money on holding seminars and trainings than on purchasing colorful decorations and paying outside performers.

"I can imagine my brother ranting about that menial task and why he does not deserve to be treated that way." Luthor could hear Loki's voice in his head. He knew his brother that well.

"Those four may be execom members now, but they're still acting like QED Club members." Maggie then lowered her voice. "May inihahanda silang plano para kay Augustus at sa Clarion. I want to support them since I also hate the guts of that chief editor. Naalala ko pa ang mga fake news na ipinublish nila para siraan ang execom at ang student council."

"Augustus is dangerous. Be careful." That's all Luthor could say before marching to the staircase.

After all, only the editor-in-chief would stand in his way, should he choose to make a move against the big bad Moriarty himself.

Back at the rooftop... Luthor was supposed to meet someone here, but ten minutes later, that person has not arrived yet. To pass the time, he watched the cadets of the Citizenship Advancement Training or CAT in high school. They had been marching across the green fields, maneuvering their wooden rifles and doing push-ups for every mistake they make.

He still remembers it very well, the fateful day that he had to act as Moriarty and "neutralize" the corps commander, Cedric Castillejos, who brought Loki and company to an abandoned building. He thought his mission was to incapacitate the rogue agent, and not to kill him. But Moriarty had another plan in mind.